


Welcome to the Club

by EchoRho



Series: The Agent and The Sentinel [1]
Category: Anthem (Video Game)
Genre: Commiseration over drinks, Gen, Marital Stress, Sexy Bad Choices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 04:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20754650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoRho/pseuds/EchoRho
Summary: A Freelancer and Corvus Agent discussing their Sexy Bad Choices™





	Welcome to the Club

**Author's Note:**

> First work in a series of four.
> 
> Beta'd by my mother (a professional historian and published writer), so any errors are probably something I edited after she looked at it. (Thanks, Ma!)
> 
> Bioware has only told us that Knox is married to Sev & is a Sentinel. Everything else about him is strictly my headcannon.  
All characters, locations, etc., belong to Bioware. I'm just grateful to be allowed to play in their sandbox a little.

“Oi! You!”

Sev looked up and found that a lithe, muscular woman with mocha skin and a shock of black curls on the top of her head was addressing him–loudly and energetically. He instantly went on alert, scanning the bar. “Who, me?” he asked back in a soft but gruff voice.

“Yeah, you, wallflower. Get over here and have a drink with me!” the woman declared with a sweep of her arm.

Seeing nothing else amiss, Sev chuckled, “Not that I’m not flattered and all, darlin’, but I’m not interested.” He saluted her with the cup in his hand.

The boisterous stranger let out a dismissive noise as her broad mouth got even broader with a grin. As she signaled the bartender over, she shot back, “As if. Not what this is about. I just don’t wanna drink alone. You’re here all the time, nursing your cups in that back corner. You might as well come on out and have a drink with the rowdy crowd. I mean, you’re not even ornamental so you might as well make yourself useful.”

Sev let out another chuckle and a grin. She seemed all right. And she had interrupted his useless mulling over his own issues, so, why the hell not? He shrugged at her and wandered over to sit on the barstool to her right, his instincts causing him to place her between him and the only spot in the bar where trouble could enter.  
“Alright, what are we drinking to?” he asked the woman as she got her drink and indicated to the bartender to bring Sev a refill.

“To sexy danger!” she declared with a white-toothed smile, hoisting her cup high before clicking it against his.

He couldn’t stop himself from chuckling again. “Sexy danger, is it? And what, exactly, would that be?” he said before taking a swig.

She set her cup down on the counter with a thump and sat up, straight and proud. “The life of a Freelancer!”

“Oh, aye. You a Freelancer, then?” Sev asked, suddenly more interested in talking to this stranger.

“That’s me!” she declared, sketching a half-bow, “Freelancer Rythe, at your service. Got any contracts? I need to keep the drinking fund up, after all.” At that last, she shot Sev a wink.

“I’m afraid I’ve already got a Freelancer I’m working with. But if I need a second, I’ll keep you in mind,” he said, a bit apologetically. “I tell you what, though—the next rounds on me.” He raised his glass in Rythe’s direction.

“You’re alright, then! But, whoever you got working for you, I bet I’m better,” she boasted. Sev was about to answer, but before he could get a word in edgewise, she added, “And how do you have contracts? All you seem to do is stand back in that corner and drink all day!” Then she squinted at him, “You one of Max’s Regulator friends?”

Sev lowered his head and stared at the counter, smiling. Then he tilted his head a bit and glanced at her sideways. “I’m with Corvus,” he nearly whispered.

“Shit, —” Rythe started.

“And the Freelancer we’re working with is the one who silenced the Heart of Rage. No offense, but I doubt we could get much better than that,” he cut her off and ended with a wink.

Rthye seemed to settle down a bit at that. “Yeah, you got me there,” she said with a smirk. “Hell of a Freelancer, that one. Good friend, too.” 

“Oh, so you know our illustrious friend?”

“Yeah–our Big Star helped me out in a tight bit of sexy danger I got into.” The Freelancer grinned.

“Oh, Aye?” the agent asked, interested.

“Yeah. So,” the woman on his left turned to face him fully, “I always just thought you were back there brooding on your own troubles. And it turns out you’re back there spying for the empire! Sexy danger, indeed.”

Sev was very grateful that she said that in a quieter voice than she had been using up to that point. Announcing that he was “spying for the empire” in the middle of a crowded bar could have made his life considerably more difficult, even without factoring in Tassyn’s likely reaction. “Well, I was back there brooding on my own troubles when you interrupted,” he said with a huff, “But I’m grateful you pulled me away from that. No good stewing on it, eh?”

Rythe’s expression softened a bit. “Well, I’m not as good at working things out as our famous friend, but if you want to talk I’m a sympathetic ear. Might help you to air it out, right?”

“Actually, I already spoke to our friend about it. It did help, but it’s not such a simple thing that it can get solved right away. I’m … uh … I’m not really on speaking terms with my husband at the moment, as far as he’s concerned, that is. Something happened right before I got stationed here. I, um, made a bad decision and got him and me both in trouble. He was understandably upset with me,” Sev confessed.

Rythe reached over and clapped the agent on the back while saluting him with her cup in her left hand. “Welcome to the ‘Sexy Bad Choices Club’, my friend!” she said with a smile that managed to be both understanding and full of mischief.

“Oh, ‘Sexy Bad Choices Club’, is it, now?” He said with a grin that faded after a moment, “Pretty sure my husband doesn’t find anything sexy about my bad choices. I think it’s fair to say his reactions range from ‘mildly annoyed’ to ‘fully pissed off’. It’s why he stayed back in Antium.”

“What happened?”

Sev sighed. “I really can’t go into the details, but I had some intel I was supposed to sit on. People’s lives could have been at stake–likely were–and … well, my husband’s a Sentinel. I told him about it. And I told him that following up on it was a sanctioned mission when it wasn’t. Nearly got us both fired, even though I made the call for the right reasons.” Sev shook his head. “Doesn’t stop it from being a bad call, I guess. And I didn’t exactly go about it the right way. Shouldn’t have lied to him.”

Rythe settled against the bar. “A Sentinel married to a Corvus agent. That’s gotta be rough. You talked to him about it?”

“That’s what our mutual friend helped me with. I sent him an apology. Now I’m just waiting to get a reply. If he feels like replying, that is.” Sev was staring down into his cup like the answer to this whole mess was sitting deep down on the bottom.

“Well,” Rythe replied as the bartender handed them both new drinks, “There’s our toast. To our friend; who helps save us from our sexy bad choices and sexy danger.”

Sev tapped his glass against hers with a smile on his face and warmth in his heart. “Now I’ll drink to that!”

**Author's Note:**

> And that's how he drank all the drinks (Rythe drank some of them.)
> 
> So, something about the conversation Sev has with the Freelancer about his husband caused my muse to grab me by the hair and toss me at the keyboard. I hammered out 4 short stories in 2 days, which is very unusual for me.
> 
> It took me a while to decide to post them (along with RL getting in the way.) I just hope someone else enjoys them, even just a bit.
> 
> My first time posting anything - I hope the formatting comes out OK! Constructive criticism welcomed.
> 
> All 4 stories are complete and will eventually be posted.


End file.
